2022-07-27: Reckoning
- Log: Reckoning
- Cast: Paine, Lulu, Yuna, Rikku, Tidus
- Where: North Calm Lands
- Date: July 27, 2022
- Summary: Lulu leads her friends and family to confront her past in the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth.
=============================<* North Calm Lands *>============================= The Calm Lands are an expanse of wide plains, bordered on the north by a massive ravine - The Scar - which was formed when Lady Yunalesca fought and overcame Sin for the first time. The Calm Lands are truly massive, but almost entirely uninhabited - which is why most Summoners have followed Yunalesca's example, and taken to this area to fight their own final battle as well. The northern part of the Calm Lands are past the scar. Here, the land is flatter -- and not from natural processes, but simply being repeatedly battered down by Sin's attacks over the years. The grasses are shorter here, though, and there are not even trees dotting them. Mount Gagazet dominates the horizon, its over 8,000 sharls of height climbing far higher than any mountain on Glenwood or Meribus. A chill wind often blows down from it. BGM: Final Fantasy X - Calm Lands
DG: A party led by Lulu is now entering Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== ==================<* CHALLENGE - An Entrance Well-Concealed *>================== | Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
In the wake of all that's happened since Zanarkand, Lulu the black mage still has unfinished business in the Calm Lands. She has prepared as best she is able, both for herself and for her companions. She has honed her skills. And she has thought, over and over, about what there is there. ...Perhaps, once, she would've allowed the fiction that she is only going here to give Yuna the chance to find another Fayth.
But none of them would believe it, and she would not tolerate the lie. The Fayth is one reason to go. ...Closure is another. A woman who was not in the Farplane...
But all of that means:
IN THE NORTH OF THE CALM PLAINS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a9qjHRRYLY
"...The cavern is somewhere down here," Lulu says. "It was winter when I came before. This used to be a training ground for the Crusaders... Mybe the Crusaders ad something to do with it. It's hard to say."
"But down here, somewhere... is a Fayth. Or so we thought. All we found was death."
Lulu narrates as she begins to search, walking around to do some searching of her own.
"...When I came here before. On my first Pilgrimage."
DG: Lulu has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, An Entrance Well-Concealed.
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Yuna was so, so young when Lulu was brought to Bevelle Temple... after. Too young to connect Lulu's arrival to an unexpected, precious hour spent with Auron, Braska and Jecht. Too young to feel guilty for enjoying the latter in the context of the former.
But not too young to know, after her father had left and the nuns had bustled her back into Temple school, that the girl she saw in the infirmary -- the girl with the Moogle -- was sad. Desperately, desperately sad.
It wasn't very much longer after that, that Yuna was no longer too young to know WHY.
Walking beside her Guardian, Yuna doesn't ask if Lulu is sure that she really wants to do this. They wouldn't be here... if she wasn't sure. And she doesn't ask if Lulu is okay. Of course she's not.
What can she say? What can she do?
All she can do is promise.
She takes Lulu's hand in both of hers for a moment. Above, Lulu can feel Yuna's palm, still soft where it isn't scarred, and still gentle everywhere. Below, something passes between them, something fished from her sash.
Something she's carried all this way and for all this time; a tiny charm from Besaid, one of Lulu's earliest craftings. A fabric flower, a corded knot. A present for Yuna, given so many years ago. Before she was a summoner. Another lifetime.
It's not a LUCKY charm; Lulu would never have allowed Yuna's fate such a fragile foundation as luck, even when they were two of Sin's orphans rather than what they are today.
And they are two of Sin's orphans still, of course.
So much has changed on their journey.
But not the most important thing.
"We'll find her," Yuna swears quietly. But does she mean the fayth?
DG: Yuna has used her Tool Pilgrim's Sash toward her party's challenge, An Entrance Well-Concealed. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Rikku maybe once would have believed that it's all about Yunie! No more though, she's now onto you Lulu... on occasion, sometimes - from time to time. Okay actually it's rarely, but less rare than you'd think!
As they look down in the chasm, Rikku shields her eyes with a hand over her face, scanning the area. "Should be easy-peasy finding it now!"
Rikku's about to sprint off, but Lulu's narration with 'death' causes her to pause, as if second guessing it. Everyone can see the 'on your marks' look in her eyes suddenly changing to thinking better of it.
"Spooky..."
Instead Rikku puts her hands behind her head as if to keep her from touching something, pressed against her blonde hair. Since they'd heard a little about it on the way, Rikku remarks, "So if the Fayth here was stolen... I wonder if the thief had intended to stop pilgrimages." She idly asides, eyeing Tidus
Though if the place is filled only with death, that causes a small wince on Rikku's face.
However she certainly doesn't miss the way Yuna holds Lulu's hand in this moment. She decides to give the two a moment. Rather than ruminate on it too long, she starts to pass out these small tablets- "Be sure to swallow as they're kinda blagghh if you accidentally bite down." It's perhaps a small contribution, but the stamina tablets will allow them all to not run out of steam before they reach the entrance. "Or so I hear- not that I know from experience or anything."
DG: Rikku has used her Tool Quickpockets toward her party's challenge, An Entrance Well-Concealed. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
This story isn't completely new to Tidus. He'd talked to Lulu about it once, ages ago. It's weird to think that it *has* been ages. But... here they are. It's just another part of their journey. And while he knows that they have something important to do, something that needs to get done--he doesn't mind that the journey's lingering.
For one thing, it takes a lot of time and patience to catch butterflies, and corral monsters, and work one's way through a blitzball tournament, and...
The point is, he's been keeping himself busy. They all have. And in their quest to take care of everything they can--they've come back here.
"The Crusaders, huh," Tidus muses as he peers down the crack in the earth. He can just barely see the cave entrance from here. It'll get clearer as they head down into the ravine. He looks over at Yuna, glancing down as she takes Lulu's hand, and nods along with the sentiment. "Whatever's down there, we've got your back, Lulu," he affirms.
Rikku speculates on why someone might've stolen a Fayth. Tidus shrugs back her way. "Wouldn't surprise me," he replies. "I mean, why else would they've?" He quirks a smile at her as he accepts the tablets and swallows them down. In exchange, he pulls out a certain sphere, as if to check to see if there's any wisdom to be had for this tiny corner of the world. "Dunno if this'll help, but--no harm in checking, right?"
DG: Tidus has used his Tool Jecht Sphere toward his party's challenge, An Entrance Well-Concealed. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Paine wanders slightly away from the group as they walk, to regard one of the old training dummies. It only vaguely simulates a human, but humans see humans in less than this: a stout wooden stake with a crossboard for arms and sacks for its head and torso. Paine looks at it without comment for a moment. Then, in what seems to be a slow-motion version of a practiced movement, she gently bops it on the side of the head with a closed fist. She brings that closed fist back to her other palm for an elbow thrust to the chest and finally, still subdued but a little firmer, she swings her forearm up and strikes the arm.
The dummy is supposed to rotate at this point. But as it turns around, it falls over instead. Paine's lips screw up to the side, and after a moment, she starts taking quick, long strides to catch back up with the group.
The Guardians will have noticed by now that when Paine has some hard looking to do, she prefers to do it with her Sphere Recorder in hand. It appears in that hand now, turning the flitting, distractable gaze of a human into the steady, thorough sweeping of a documentarian. She follows the terrain, not skipping ahead. The Recorder catches Tidus and Rikku's backs, then crosses Yuna and Lulu. It lingers there for a moment.
Paine, too, has a place of death. But it does not help her know what to say. What would make it better for her? Not much.
The Recorder's gaze moves on.
DG: Paine has used her Tool Sphere Recorder toward her party's challenge, An Entrance Well-Concealed. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== ==================<* CHALLENGE - An Entrance Well-Concealed *>================== | Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
===================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth - Round 1 *>=================== ====================< Results - An Entrance Well-Concealed >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Pilgrim's Sash 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Jecht Sphere 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Quickpockets 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paine 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sphere Recorder 2 Wits Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lulu 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Reckless(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Lulu has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Lulu has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Choose With Care *>======================= | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Lulu put a lot into her craftings; she still does, but it's not the same, not a trade that might have inevitably been her life after turning her back on her magic. As Yuna takes Lulu's hand, Lulu slowly turns the rest of the way towards her. She remembers this. Another lifetime... "I remember," she says softly. And Yuna assurse her. Reassures her. But even so...
"That's what I'm afraid of," she admits. "But I have to know. And if we do..." Then she can't leave things as they are.
But Tidus, too, has her back, as he puts it. They all do; Lulu knows. This, this matter that comes from before she met any of them...
Lulu accepts a tablet. "That was our theory," Lulu says to Rikku. "...Well, no. It was her theory."
Lulu didn't have many, back then.
But as she curls her hand under Yuna's to accept the charm, she nods to her--and she looks over at Paine, noticing her with the dummy, and... with the recorder.
Hm.
"..."
They find the entrance soon enough, between all of their efforts; Paine gets a good shot of it. Rikku's tablets help them stay. And Tidus's sphere?
It's been here before. "...We met this girl," Jecht says. "No, I should call her a Guardian. ...It didn't look good for her."
"There were three of us," Lulu explains then. "...Lady Ginnem, her sister... and me. I was a child. A child, who didn't understand the truth of the Pilgrimage. ...Who saw magic in the world."
Lulu shakes her head, and leads them into the cavern. It is dark, to start with, stone, hollowed out. And there are old glyphs here and there, deactivated by now. But in short order when they arrive, the pyreflies become thick. And the first Fiend they see...
"...?" Lulu says, looking ober the Magic Urn.
"Attack me!" it says. "But if you get it wrong...! Boom!"
Lulu looks deadpan at the Magic Urn. "...These seemed bigger, the first time. I never did learn the trick for them."
DG: Lulu has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Choose With Care.
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
The tablet sours on Yuna's worried tongue, but she smiles at Rikku anyway, reassurringly unoffended by her and Tidus' understanding of the circumstances of the theft. And at Paine's recorder -- reflexive, the smile of a celebrity. It's a brief look back, though, because the majority of her focus remains on Lulu...
...and then, with the slightest crawl of her skin beneath the shivering shadow of the threshhold crossed--
--and a prickle, too, for the sound of Jecht's voice--
--she focuses on the cavern, and on what's ahead.
She looks carefully at the urn, surprised by the admission that Lulu doesn't know the answer. But then, she shouldn't be. It isn't the tall, strong Lulu at her side who ventured into this place once before. It's the girl from the infirmary. The girl who didn't even know yet that the outcome of her failure would have been the outcome of her success. The fragile girl.
Yuna feels fragile just remembering. Her eyes shimmer, their blue and green brutally averaged out to gray in the unlight of the fiend's outline, the gloom of the cavern itself.
Half a journey ago she might have voiced the idea that the only winning move is not to play.
But she remembers one of Lulu's earliest lessons.
To destroy a fiend is to set it free.
So she mustn't shirk her duty.
This time, from her pouch she produces a piece of glass. Not a lens, or at least, only a shard from a lens. A piece of the Mi'ihen Cannon, collected on a broken shore. It feels right at home in this forgotten place, for its nationality is death.
The pyreflies wink and blink closely around Yuna, as she winks and blinks through the glass, examining the many eyes of the urn through the lens' slight magnification.
There is still magic in the world.
Abracadabra... boom.
DG: Yuna has used her Tool Pilgrim's Sash toward her party's challenge, Choose With Care. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
"Maybe didn't work as well as they would have hoped." Rikku asides back to Tidus.
Rikku definitely catches Paine filming eventually and photobombs it with various poses. From just hopping up and down on her toes and waving at the camera, to making faces at times when Paine was probably trying to go for something more candid...
... well it's still pretty candid for her at least...
Once inside the cavern though ... Rikku quiets down again as Lulu tells the story. The thought of Lulu on a pilgrimage as a kid... the idea makes her sad... because she can't imagine her as a kid. This place probably contributed in part to the reason why she can't.
It's not long before they encounter one strange Fiend. And Rikku balances mostly on one leg, crossing the other to stub the toe lightly on the floor a hand on her chin. "Hmm. Hmm. Hmm." Rikku then lofts both of her arms in a shrug, "I have no idea!"
Her position shifts in an instant, as she picks up her leg, brings an arm back and hurls something concealed to strike the upper rim of the urn, smashing the glass as an Al Bhed Healing Potion starts to splatter then dribble down over all of the eyes.
"But I do know you can't consider that an attack! LOOPHOLE!"
Maybe the alchemical concoction will help reveal something! Maybe it will do nothing! ... Maybe she's just wrong and they all blow up! There's all kinds of exciting possibilities!
DG: Rikku has used her Tool Quickpockets toward her party's challenge, Choose With Care. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
"Probably a lot of things didn't," Tidus agrees to Rikku, a bit grim.
He then turns as Paine passes by in the background with her recorder. It's not the first time he's been recorded and it won't be the last, and to try to lighten the mood, he puts on a big cheesy grin for her. ...it might not have made it onto the sphere, though, since for some mysterious reason she's focusing more on Yuna and Lulu.
That just makes the cheesy grin last longer. Which is good, since there won't be a lot to smile about once they're inside the cavern.
It was *her* theory. "Huh... Did she--know?" Tidus wonders, slightly hesitant; it's hard to know in turn how to put something like that delicately. At least Lulu will get what he's saying. ...now he can be part of the tip-toeing around. He frowns at the thought.
At least Jecht has some relevant things to say. Both about Lulu and her Summoner, and the Magic Pot--though this one is more of a comedy reel, involving Braska holding the sphere while Auron and Jecht argue over which eye to strike. Tidus snorts, but there's something maybe fond about it before he tucks the sphere away.
"Guess we'll just have to guess," he tells Lulu as they face the thickening pyreflies. He draws his sword to commit for said guess, but even as he does, he glances over at Yuna in concern. Not for any particular reason--simply because he loves her and wants her to be happy. She looks like she's holding up okay, but that's Yuna for you, after all. For now, he tries to catch her eye and flash her a reassuring smile. He's got Lulu's back, but he's got hers and everyone's too.
Rikku meanwhile hurls a potion at the urn and declares it a loophole. Tidus squints. "...Is that really gonna work? Hey, no complaints here if it does," he adds, brightening.
Plenty of complaints if it doesn't, though!!
DG: Tidus has used his Tool Jecht Sphere toward his party's challenge, Choose With Care. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Even as the pyreflies grow thick, Paine keeps recording. She unslings her machina weapon and rests it against her shoulder, holding its butt in her other hand, but she continues capturing the foray with the other, despite the risk of sudden combat. Combat is in fact what she was trained to record.
She obliges Tidus's smile for a moment, pausing there before moving on. She does not mind if people notice the Recorder... within reasonable limits. At first she stoically ignores Rikku, but eventually the thief wins an eyebrow twitch. Finally, she gives in and gives Rikku a kick to the butt with the top of her foot. "I didn't enjoy those faces the first time, so why do you think I want to watch them over and over on a sphere?" she grumps.
Rikku got her to speak, though, and to stop thinking about caverns briefly. And the sad remark of Lulu lands on a slightly less maudlin ear, of a woman with slightly looser lips than a moment before.
"You're pretty magical," she remarks after Lulu's comment sits a few seconds. Her intended double meaning was spellcasting/wonder, but a more flirtatious double meaning occurs to her while she's speaking, and Paine clears her throat slightly when she realizes it. It's not in her personality to disown the comment, but she would have said something else given the chance.
Thank Yevon for Urns.
Paine snaps into a very different mode. Once she realizes there won't be an immediate attack, she lets her carbine drop back against her shoulder and begins recording the Fiends. Repeatedly, as naturally as she might revisit a thought in her own head, she rewinds and repeats interesting motions they make, trying to make sense of any clues.
"Have anything?" she calls in general to the party.
DG: Paine has used her Tool Sphere Recorder toward her party's challenge, Choose With Care. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Choose With Care *>======================= | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
===================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth - Round 2 *>=================== =========================< Results - Choose With Care >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Pilgrim's Sash 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Jecht Sphere 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Quickpockets 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paine 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sphere Recorder 2 Wits Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lulu 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Reckless(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Lulu has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. <DICE ROLLER> Lulu rolled 1d4 <4> + 0 = 4
DG: Lulu has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Whirling Blades *>======================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Lulu remembers. Or, to be more accurate, Lulu never forgot what it was to be that fragile girl. She has always remained in her mind. And only Yuna knows her. ...Maybe that's part of why Lulu stayed with Yuna. Because Yuna stayed with her.
"She knew," Lulu says to Tidus. "I was the only one who didn't." It might bring to mind the long time that Tidus is the one who didn't know. That feels almost a lifetime away now...
'You're pretty magical.' Lulu glances over at Paine and lifts an eyebrow. ...But she doesn't frown. In fact, when Paine clears her throat, she looks... amused. Or at least, as amused as she can be in the moment; she doesn't smile, but it is a moment where the sun peeks through the gloom nonetheless.
The bad news is that the Urn can definitely count using a healing item on it as an attack. The good news is that the potion isn't the first thing that gets thrown.
Yuna's caaareful aim gives them a good idea to make a guess. Tidus follows through! Paine records dutifully. And Rikku, well....
The good news: "Bingo!" the Fiend says at the first guess, a little imp that throws a bunch of Silver Hourglasses at the party. But the bad news, by contrast...
"WRONG!" the Fiend says to Rikku, as if to dismiss her reasoning and her guess. A fuse lights at the top and--
BOOM!!! The party survives the blast without much trouble, but Rikku especially will have some soot on her face for the effort...
Lulu says, "Well. None of the other Fiends in here will be that easy. Be on your guard."
She starts forward, a doll under her arm in preparation for a battle--and one approaches. Thanks to the doll's magic, Lulu immediately darts back out of the way of a sudden sword with a wicked blade, her doll immediately leaping from her arms to batter the blade back down.
"Move fast!" Lulu calls, alarmed, and looks for a pattern in the blades. She can only rely on that trick so many times.
DG: Lulu has used her Tool Vengeful Cactuar toward her party's challenge, Whirling Blades. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Yuna does notice Tidus' smile, and does seem reassured by it; the look she gives back is tender, and she nudges her chin very slightly towards Lulu, which is much more honest and true than her expression might have been -- to acknowledge her main priority in the moment, rather than simply pretending to be fine. She does not have to pretend to be grateful, though, for Tidus' love; he shines like the sun in this dark place, and she is glad of it. It would have been so much harder alone.
Rikku shines too, with well-meaning enthusiasm, and Paine with a more ACCIDENTAL enthusiasm; it's irresistible to glance at Lulu to gauge her reaction after THAT, and that eyebrow is priceless, she will tuck it away into her pouch with the lens and the charm and a thousand other memories of the pilgrimage, of her childhood, of a lifetime.
Then she looks back at Paine, and her smile is different from all of the above -- a little soot-blackened, after the explosion -- not amused and sarcastic, or sunny or even intentional -- just surprised. Pleasantly. She says nothing about it to Paine and will not discuss it with Rikku later (until she's VERY sure they're alone, anyway).
Instead she gathers light to her palms -- white, and then diffracted to violet and pink and gold at the edges. The explosion was the least of what they'll face today, but she won't settle for anything but maxed-out HP bars... given what's likely to come.
Ironically this means she's more than a little bit behind when the swords pop out; she was juuuust topping off Tidus -- saving the best for last? she presses the Cure straight into his shoulder from behind -- and might need a little help to be brought out of harm's way.
DG: Yuna has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Whirling Blades.
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Rikku stumbles forward at Paine's punishment kick in the aftermath of her and Tidus making faces, catching herself as she blurts out, "Yow!" And rubs the top of her butt, before turning around and pushing two fingertips into the hollows of her cheeks to exaggerate her dimples further as she grins real big, "Because third time's the charm!"
Again though, she finds herself ruminating on Lulu here as a child... amongst death. Losing...
Well the Magic Urn is demanding her attention.
"It's a healing potion isn't it?" Rikku offers to Tidus with a big ol' shrug from the girl who often bribes them with shiny things to get shinier things, "Fiends are weird like- Wait what do you mean WRONG!?"
Paine will find it super easy to get a shot of grumpy Rikku with arms crossed and her face covered in soot as she mutters in a way that Yuna will definitely hear, "That fiend thinks he's soooo clever. I'm going to show him a thing or two next time."
Paine may get some more enjoyable shots if she's still shooting there.
When the blades come out not long after, Rikku starts trying to hot step it in sequence. Fast little hops every time she sees a pattern. "Hup hup hup - ha!" As she tries to count out the timing in her own way.
DG: Rikku has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Whirling Blades.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
So she did know. And Lulu didn't. Tidus gives Lulu a sober nod, understanding and sympathy flickering in his blue eyes. Yeah... he definitely knows how that feels.
Paine's comment on how magical Lulu is gets a new kind of grin out of him, though, and he gives Rikku a knowing look.
On the plus side: they get a bunch of Silver Hourglasses! On the minus side: Rikku's guess absolutely did not pan out. "So you didn't think *you* were being clever?" he asks with good-natured wryness.
But--onwards, down a ledge with sudden blades. Tidus hops nimbly out of the way to avoid the worst, but he does get a gash on one arm. As he winces, he feels Yuna press her healing touch into it, and he gives her another warm smile over his shoulder...
"Whoops, here they come again!" he yelps, grabbing for her hand with one hand and tossing a speed-enhancing Chocobo Feather with the other. Hopefully its magic will keep them ahead. "Let's get going!"
DG: Tidus has used his Tool Chocobo Feather toward his party's challenge, Whirling Blades. Quicken! Party Agility boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Paine doesn't smile either, or at least, she does not let Lulu see. Someone else might catch her lips uncharacteristically upturned for a moment when Lulu looks away again, however. They have to be quick though. Paine hides it when she realizes else is smiling too.
They get a mixed result from the Urns, but at least no one's hurt. Paine lets her arm down slowly after shielding herself from the Urn blast. She silently claps Rikku's shoulder in sympathy as she walks by.
The swords emerge suddenly, and Paine calls out in alarm. But Lulu has her doll, and comes out untouched. Paine at last gives up her sphere recorder for now, stowing it and her carbine too, in favor of drawing her heavy grey sword. She can tell that fighting her way through is not going to be feasible, but it might at least avert otherwise fatal blows.
Advancing, Paine keeps a close eye on Yuna and Lulu. There's no sense in worrying about nimble Rikku or pro athlete Tidus; if anything Paine may end up needing THEIR help in a situation like this. Yuna is more athletic than Paine realized at first when she joined, but she is a Summoner, still. She is Paine's Summoner, too, and thus a priority even if her main hobbies were jumprope and dodging blitzballs. And Lulu... Paine does not think she could do this wearing a belt dress, and then you have to add in the fact that Lulu is the sort of person to wear a belt dress.
The worry quickly proves unnecessary. The cactaur levels the playing field, and Paine has her own problems. Beset sorely, she hopscotches the lower blades, ducks the higher ones, jukes swords in the middle...
Following Yuna and Tidus, Paine prepares herself to intervene if one of them gets hit, but otherwise turns her attention to her own welfare. Lulu is right. The reaction-time benefits of moving more slowly here are not worth the extra exposure. Better to recklessly dodge one sword than carefully dodge three.
"Almost through," she announces tightly.
DG: Paine has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Whirling Blades.
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Whirling Blades *>======================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Agility | Challenge Rating: 2 |
===================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth - Round 3 *>=================== =========================< Results - Whirling Blades >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Vengeful Cactuar 3 Agility Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Chocobo Feather 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paine 0 --(3)--> 3 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lulu 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Cripple Effects: Quicken(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Lulu has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Lulu has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Sword Selection *>======================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Sword Selection *>======================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
With Tidus's help, Yuna is brought along with the group out of harm's way, after she finishes ensuring the group is ready for the next challenge. A hand and the chocobo feather are both ideal for this purpose. Lulu doesn't seem to notice Paine's expression.
But she sees Tidus's, an nods back to him; they understand each other in that moment, for all that Lulu has been difficult to understand thus far on this journey.
They all get through fine; Paine does have to intervene to help Lulu, whose dress gets caught on one of the blades, and in the process takes a little more effort getting out than she'd like. But no one takes a fatal blow.
This time Rikku doesn't cause any explosions! Perhaps she'll get her chance...
Once they're through to the next chamber, Lulu says, "...We only had the one Aeon, then. But the Calm Lands were so near, and she knew of this place, had wanted to find the lost Aeon..."
Lulu shakes her head. "It was all fine in theory. ...But 'theory' is never enough, on the Pilgrimage."
Lulu advances into the chamber, and there are swords all over. Many kinds, many makes, from southern Spira and northern Spira and a few that may be from farther along still. And the door closes. There is a teleportation panel up ahead that appears to be the only way out, and the runes read 'sword' 'true' and 'choose'.
"...We need to find the right weapon," Lulu says. But--
"Wait. Is that...?" Lulu starts to advance towards one of the blades in particular.
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Yuna squeezes Tidus' hand on the far side of the trap. She takes a moment to wipe her brow, after. Once she might have just smiled through it, but that, too, has changed. In some ways it's the highest compliment she can pay her Guardians, to let them see her vulnerability.
After drinking some water -- and offering the skin, fished out of her sash, to Rikku, who is closest, for passing around -- she considers the choice before them.
"Lulu..." she echoes, as the story continues. She knows much of it, but not all of it. And there's something she'd like to ask, but... it looks like Lulu's on to some thing with the swords.
Encouraging a team effort, she looks between Tidus and Paine.
"What makes a sword true?" she asks them, with an earnestness that might be disarming if they hadn't seen it in Yuna a thousand times before.
DG: Lulu has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sword Selection.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
It's a heart-stopping moment when Lulu's dress gets caught; good thing Paine's there to help her. Tidus breathes a sigh of relief and squeezes Yuna's hand back as he smiles at her. "That was pretty scary, huh," he murmurs.
He's glad for a chance to have a drink, even if the next chamber is more about figuring stuff out than he'd like for a room full of swords. He focuses on Lulu at first.
"Yeah... It really is like that, huh," he reflects. Then he looks around at the chamber and all the swords embedded therein. Yuna addresses him and Paine. He blinks at her, then at his fellow sword-user.
"Um... A sharp edge?" he guesses, scratching his head. "Haha, that's probably not it. I can just see Auron shaking his head in disgust." He scrunches his face up in a meant-to-be Auron-like scowl. "'Pathetic,'" Tidus rumbles in imitation. Then he shrugs and grins, back to normal. "Like that!"
He looks around again at the markings. 'True,' 'sword,' 'choose'... "Anyway. All we have to do is pull out the 'true' sword, right? Meaning the *right* sword. So... why not just pull them all out? We'll get the right one eventually!"
He moves to start doing exactly that. Hopefully Lulu's got a better idea in mind than he does.
DG: Tidus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sword Selection. DG: Yuna has used her Tool Pilgrim's Sash toward her party's challenge, Sword Selection. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Rikku almost turns right back when Lulu's dress gets caught, but Paine is there. And as she hops forward, she gives Paine a thumbs up of approval.
Only one Aeon. Rikku knows how powerful Yuna was with several, and how much more powerful she's become since. The tale has so much tragedy woven into it, and she can only imagine how guilty Lulu must feel now about all these details, all these signs. Even if she was just a child.
Rikku tries not to d'awww out loud about seeing Yuna's hand in Tidus' and takes the waterskin from Yuna, taking a long draw from it, before handing it back. "Thanks Yunie!" Before laughing at Tidus, "He would say something like that." Her tone then becomes teasing, "Maybe Paine can fill in for him today if she wants."
Rikku contemplates the dilemma. "Hmmm true. True." What makes a sword true? Rikku scratches the back of her neck, and bounces on her feet, as if she's truly thinking through the problem.
"Oh I know!"
And without any warning she tosses a bomb fragment towards a section of weapons. As it detonates into a minor fiery explosion.
"What makes a sword true is that it's tempered! And won't snap the first time its tested."
Those tiny bomb fragments are more fire than concussive force - but there's still plenty of that too, she figures a real blade can withstand a bit of fire and some applied force.
DG: Rikku has used her Tool Quickpockets toward her party's challenge, Sword Selection. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Paine stumbles from the sword-hallway with a nick or two; one took a small bite out of her cloak. It does not seem to bother the reckless warrior, though she does turn her head this way and that to look herself over, the way one does after getting bitten repeatedly by mosquitos. She clicks her tongue in disapproval, then looks to Lulu's torn belts on the bottom of her dress.
"Here," she says, reaching for the single belt she wears and making to unbuckle it and donate it to Lulu's collection. "You can use mine."
A beat, in which she makes no effort to sell the joke or smile.
"Just kidding," she says, and resumes walking.
The sword room raises Paine's eyebrow. There might be some shopping to do, she briefly thinks, until the problem is made clear. She purses her lips as Yuna seeks her and Tidus's expertise, and shares a glance with the blitzballer.
"Well," she says, walking deeper into the room and squatting next to one of the swords. "I don't know how good the fakes are. But any good sword will have the tang extend at least partway into the hilt, so the blade doesn't snap off." She flicks a sword hilt a few times. "That's just wood," she says. Paine doesn't sound very certain of her method though, sighing. "I mean, maybe they're just bad quality because they needed a lot of them for this stupid puzzle, though."
Paine is suddenly at Tidus's side, laying a hand firmly atop his. "Actually, I kind of like the idea of checking them all out first after all," she decides aloud.
And then the explosions start. Paine rubs the bridge of her nose.
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Drawing out her sphere recorder again, she holds it idle at her side as she begins to check swords. Whenever she finds one that is convincing, she takes a shot of it. She'll compare them directly later.
DG: Paine has used her Tool Sphere Recorder toward her party's challenge, Sword Selection. Resilient! Party shielded from some exhaustion next round!
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Sword Selection *>======================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
===================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth - Round 4 *>=================== =========================< Results - Sword Selection >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Pilgrim's Sash 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Quickpockets 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paine 3 --(5)--> 8 Pass Sphere Recorder 2 Wits Effects: Resilient -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lulu 60 --(25)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Cripple|Exhaust(1)|Treasure(1) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)|Resilient(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Lulu has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Lulu has drawn a new Challenge.
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =================<* CHALLENGE - The Last Duty of a Guardian *>================== | Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Lulu accepts some water herself, passing the skin back to Yuna when they are done, and walking back towards the sword she'd seen. As it turns out, they all have different ideas as to how to solve the problem; Paine relies on her knowledge of swords. Tidus just plans to do the hard work. Rikku has a clever idea. And Lulu...
Well. Paine goes through a number of swords, as does Paine, but Rikku saves a lot of time as she starts exploding fakes which either break into constituent pieces or just fade into illusory nothingness, depending. But as she does, Lulu takes hold of a particular sword, and pulls it from the wall.
"...Imogen," she murmurs. "...The other Guardian on our pilgrimage. The one who bought me the time to escape..."
Lulu takes the sword, and holds it in both hands, looking down at it. "This was her sword. My Summoner's sister. She was a warrior monk..."
She holds it, and takes it to the teleporter. "This is the one. Come with me." They step onto the teleporter, and...
In short order they are at the beginning of another path, and Lulu feels the prickle of awareness on the back of her neck. "...It was the three of us. She thought the Fayth here may have come from our village. And so we came here, after Macalania. We entered the cavern even though we knew the fiends were powerful, and I..."
Pyreflies are thick in the air in this space within the cave, widening bit by bit as you proceed further into this innermost place. Something rests here. Something lies waiting, as it has for a very long time.
It would be easy to think the woman standing in the path an illusion. Some trick of the light, perhaps, conjured up by the dark. But while she says not a word as she gazes at all of you, neither is she unknown to you.
Not all of you.
"Lady Ginnem..." Lulu utters. It is obvious to more than only Yuna, when looking at her; a deep pain is obvious in her eyes, as she remembers the little girl who nearly died here. Who...
"Forgive me," she murmurs. "I was too young."
The Unsent looks on without pity, without recognition. And as Lulu steps forward, she lashes out--and a blast of icy magic sinks against Lulu, knocking her to one knee. "...There's..."
"There's no human left in you now, is there...?"
The group will want to move quickly. With the space she gains by knocking Lulu back, Ginnem's shade sends black magic at all of them, a shockwave of dark power that knocks the group backward, before she swings her hands forward--and begins to Summon.
Cherry blossom petals rush down through the chamber, and slowly, a great humanoid form steps into being, walking slowly, blades on his hip sheathed and a great hat, along with a small dog, pyreflies roiling all around them.
"..."
Lulu picks up the Cait Sith she was carrying from where it fell into the dirt. It is wreathed with power already.
"...Then allow me to perform my final duty... as your Guardian."
Nevertheless... she will not be the first to strike.
DG: Lulu has used her Tool Wicked Cait Sith toward her party's challenge, The Last Duty of a Guardian. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Tidus, Rikku and Paine's combined efforts force Yuna to face a rare challenge -- having to HIDE a smile, instead of reproduce one. But it isn't too hard to spare their pride. All she has to do is stay close to Lulu. And listen.
She never met Ginnem or Imogen, of course. She met Lulu because of what happened here. But she's inscribed them on her heart all the same. In a very real way these, too, are victims of Sin. She'd fight anyone who said it was hubris to come here. Certainly it was a mistake to try, but... they were desperate. Everyone is always desperate, when Sin is abroad. She remains desperate herself, every single day.
It's not why SHE is here. But it's not not why, either. Her duty is to Lulu first, and the fayth may be a distant second, but it's still second.
However, it seems that these duties are arriving in their proper order. She unsheathes her summoner's rod, as Lulu says goodbye, and lunges forward when the black mage is knocked to one knee.
Today she is Lulu's Guardian, and the switch happens without hesitation or regret. White magic surges within her, then overflows, carrying with it all of her sorrow for Ginnem and for young Lulu. And her love for them both, too.
"You're not alone," she tells them both. It doesn't matter that one is beyond understanding. Her first concern is for the living, not the dead. "Lulu. Let's free her... together."
But to Send such a powerful fiend -- a fiend that can summon an aeon -- will take a tremendous struggle to weaken, first.
Yuna does not match aeon with aeon. It seems both somewhat rude to both Ginnem and Lulu to turn this into a summoner's duel, and more practically, that strange and frightening aeon is already taking up most of the space in the cave. A clash between TWO aeons is even more likely to endanger everyone than them fighting one on foot. Instead she sends out a second, larger pulse of healing magic, to mend the wounds of the others. Whether or not she could outsummon the fiend that was Ginnem can be made immaterial... IF she can outheal her aeon instead.
DG: Yuna has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Last Duty of a Guardian.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
"Paine, filling in for Auron? Yeah, that *would* work," Tidus says, grinning, back to Rikku. "She's got exactly that vibe, doesn't she?"
Actually he still thinks she has the vibe of if Auron and Lulu had a baby. But Lulu and Paine are both *right here* and Tidus likes living, thanks.
Of course, after sharing that glance and each putting in their thoughts, suddenly Paine grabs his hand before he can reach for a hilt and says actually she wants to look them all over first. "What? Seriously? That'll take forever!" (As if pulling every sword out *won't*?) But then Rikku starts chucking bombs and Tidus moves back. "...On second thought, maybe you're right."
Fortunately, Lulu pulls a certain sword then--and explains its significance. Tidus sobers. "Lulu..."
No point in hanging around here. He looks around at the others, then follows after Lulu through the teleporter. On the other side, there's a short path, and then a large room filled with pyreflies... Tidus waves his arms through them as if he might be able to shoo them away, but stops when he spots a woman inside.
He doesn't know her. But he has a gut feeling about her that's instantly proved right when Lulu names her--when she lashes out at Lulu with ice magic.
"Hey!! Knock that off!" Tidus shouts, jumping forward in front of and to one side of Lulu as he brandishes his sword. He glances back at Lulu to see if she's okay, but Yuna's already at her side and no doubt Rikku and Paine are too, if they aren't outright in front of her like he is. When he turns to face forward, though, a Summoning has begun...
"...This is gonna be a tough one, huh?" he says, voice low. "Fine! Bring it on! We'll put you to rest in a flash!" He grabs a Hi-Ether from his item bag and tosses it Lulu's way. "Here--use this when you need to!" he tells her, before running forward and taking on the Aeon with his speed, trusting Yuna to keep him healed, Paine to deal the heavy hits, Rikku to have their backs, and Lulu to set her sorrow to rest.
DG: Tidus has used his Tool Baskar Hi-Ether toward his party's challenge, The Last Duty of a Guardian. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round!
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Eventually they find the blade and Rikku seems blithely unaware of the criticism towards her methods, "It's a good thing we found the right sword!" Before she nudges Paine, "I shouldn't take all the credit though."
Though as Lulu calls attention to who it belonged to, Rikku sombers up and follows through the portal. She realizes this is like a trek through time for Lulu.
Ordinarily she'd make jokes to try and brighten the mood, but she can't feel it right now. She just can't. It's too personal to her.
The pyreflies grow thick and there's an Unsent on the path. Silent as a tomb. Lulu identifies her, and Rikku watches her, a slow blink of her eyes. She can only imagine how it feels to have lost a Summoner, a mentor, then to go on another - with someone you fear losing all the more.
The bond between Yuna and Lulu is just so strong and it's touching seeing the two in this moment.
This is the kind of pain the Al Bhed wanted to stop.
As the Summoner summons an Aeon that Rikku's never seen before, her eyes go wide. As she regards the figure with the great hat and small dog. Did she find the Lost Aeon after all? ...
"Could be!" Rikku asides to Tidus, "But I think we're more than strong enough now to pull through."
It's more a declaration of Lulu's and Yuna's strength, rather than theirs as a group, just this, faith in the two of them. At first Rikku mixes up some protective barriers for them all.
... then more explosions start... these ones are much bigger than the ones in the prior chamber. Much much bigger.
DG: Rikku has used her Tool Bribe Budget toward her party's challenge, The Last Duty of a Guardian. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
"The common sense vibe," Paine fills in for Tidus. "You two have a different vibe."
Nonetheless, their vibe is not ineffective, and the sword is eventually found. Paine stands quietly, but close by, as Lulu explains the weapon's history. Her face is somber, but in a softer way than usual. When they appear elsewhere thanks to the weapon, she glances around, then back at Lulu.
"A good sword," she says in a soft, curt voice, like a craftsman's assessment. It leaves no room for debate.
Walking through the caverns, Paine continues recording, but she leaves the matter to her hand; her attention is on Lulu's story. The pyreflies are beautiful, but Paine has seen too many of them regardless. People died in a cavern so that Paine might live, too... but they did not do so willingly. What Imogen gave to Lulu, Paine took from her comrades. And so they are both here today, Lulu because people believed she was worth it. And Paine for a different reason.
Her machina carbine drops into her hand as they confront an Unsent, but she does not lift it yet. There is no telling how harmful or harmless such a being will be ahead of time. But when Lulu identifies her by name, Paine hesitates a moment, then disables the sphere recorder, stowing it gently. What transpires here may be ugly or beautiful, but she knows Lulu will never want to see it again... and Paine feels no one else has the right.
"Hey!" she cries, as Lulu is driven to her knees. Before she can line up a shot, Paine too is knocked backward, and from her position on one knee, she twists her neck to look at the swirling cherry blossom petals. What emerges is clearly a warrior, which keeps things simple, obvious. Paine lacks mystical training, but she knows how to fight. She is about to do so when Lulu remarks about the final duty.
It makes Paine's teeth clench. She steals a long glance at Yuna. Even when she casts spells, it looks like dancing. Her goodness, her courage, and her power are on vibrant display. She is the best of Spira... the finest sacrifice a monster could ask for.
If Lulu has to do this to Yuna too, one day, Paine wonders if anything would be left of her.
Yuna tells Lulu she is not alone with her voice, and Paine with the report of a machina rifle, firing as she advances. When it runs dry, she lets the shoulder sling take its weight and withdraws a grenade from her belt with a clink. This time, like the last, violence is the only mercy Paine knows how to grant.
DG: Paine has used her Tool Grenade toward her party's challenge, The Last Duty of a Guardian. Rally!
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== =================<* CHALLENGE - The Last Duty of a Guardian *>================== | Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 |
===================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth - Round 5 *>=================== ===================< Results - The Last Duty of a Guardian >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Wicked Cait Sith 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuna 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Baskar Hi-Ether 1 Combat Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Bribe Budget 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paine 8 --(0)--> 8 Pass Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Rally -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Lulu 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Suffer(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Lulu has successfully explored Cavern of the Stolen Fayth!
========================<* Cavern of the Stolen Fayth *>======================== ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Yojimbo *>============================ | Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 1 |
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Lulu was not thinking of her own safety in those moments; she still can't quite bring herself to focus on that in the moment, though she is aware that she could. Yuna does that for her; her healing brings Lulu back into the fight that begins, but her healing is more than the magic.
Not alone, like she was in that cave, her mentors dead. Alone, like she left to find Braska, Auron, and Jecht outside. Alone like the girl who thought she might become a nun...
Paine, too, says she is not alone with her actions. They all do, in their way. Lulu does not know, for now, the commonalities she shares with Paine; some, sure, but not all. But the others... Lulu catches Tidus's hi-Ether as she rises. He's already moved up to join the battle, of course; things have changed a great deal since they met in Besaid. She trusts him to have her back as she rises again, and begins to weave her spells; when Yojimbo raises his mighty blades to strike, she makes use of lightning to crash down towards him. Rikku's explosions bring up the rear of the combat very well, practically artillery for the damage they do. Paine hits hard with her machine rfle and her grenades too, she and Rikku operating in tandem as Yuna keeps them all healed, Tidus keeps the attention of the powerful Aeon, and Lulu... uses her magic. It is a long battle. Perhaps like many of their battles, it is one to ensure this never happens again.
Lulu knows the answer to Paine's wondering question, but she has not been asked. Instead, Lulu rises, and drinks the hi-Ether as the battle reaches a fever pitch. Yojimbo has sent strikes over and over, clashed blades with Tidus, even sent Daigoro forward at the group. But at the end, Lulu, holding her doll, focuses the magic that this woman taught her long ago.
She makes no quip, has no pun this time. She simply lifts both hands and begins to cast. The powerful magic she uses delivers columns of dark power for the enemy, a fury of Scourge that finishes the battle. She is quiet, when it's done. Quiet, but not silent.
"I was almost thirteen. ...I didn't know anything. And now... it's done."
"...Rest well, Lady Ginnem. I will live on. And I will look to the future, now."
There is one thing yet they need to do. But after that...
The Fayth is ahead.
<Pose Tracker> Yuna has posed.
Yuna Sends immediately, leaving the after-battle patching up to Rikku and her Al Bhed potions. This mustn't wait a moment longer. The Lady has waited more than long enough.
Always a profoundly emotional experience for her, she takes her time with Ginnem's pyreflies, letting them spiral inwards along her arms and around her chest, before their final, ultimate, scattering. When they fade to the Farplane, they leave something of themselves behind in her, just like everyone does. But it's also not like everyone. She's Sent whole armies to the beyond in marathon sessions.
She's never Sent anyone else who loved Lulu the way she did.
Afterwards, she sucks in a hard breath through her nostrils. No tears next time, Lulu told her, all the way back on Kilika, and she honors her Guardian's words today with strength. The strength Lulu taught her. That all of them taught her. That they still teach her, every day.
Rikku's courage. Tidus' wisdom. Paine's kindness (whether she'd admit it or not).
She meets each of their eyes in turn. Once she's very sure that her voice won't quiver with any of Ginnem's regrets, she clears the last of them from her throat, and says with a summoner's certainty and her own profound gentleness:
"She's proud of you. Lulu."
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
'The common sense vibe,' Paine says.
Tidus makes a face at her. When she turns around, he leans in towards Rikku and stage-whispers, "The grumpy vibe." (Yuna over there trying her best not to giggle at them is only egging him on, really.)
But... there's a battle to be had. It's a fierce one, but they pull through in the end, and Yuna Sends Ginnem as quickly as she can. Tidus can't help with this part, so he stands to one side and watches, but... somehow, it's a relief to see her go. It's weird to him that it is. He didn't and doesn't know Ginnem; his only connection to her is through Lulu.
Maybe it's because learning more about this part of Lulu and her past has made him realize how horrible it would've been for him--how much it would have utterly messed him up--if he'd lost Yuna like Lulu lost Ginnem. Like Auron lost Braska, he realizes. There's something deeply scarring about a Guardian who fails to protect their Summoner. Hell, he'd been messed up just *realizing* that fate loomed ahead. They all evaded it, but... will that stay the same forever?
No. It'll definitely stay the same. Tidus clenches a fist in silent resolve. He'll protect Yuna to the end, no matter what. They all will. And one day, after Sin's gone for good...
...
...actually, better not to think about that part too much.
Once Yuna's done, Tidus steps over to her to offer his hand anew, meeting her eyes with a soft, if slightly troubled, smile. He looks over at Lulu next. "I'm glad for you, Lulu," he says quietly. "It must've... it must've hurt."
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.
Rikku actually has to put her hands over her face to hide a snort laugh as Tidus shares his evaluation of the 'Grumpy vibe.' Before leaning over and giving another one with a stage whisper of her own. "Maybe even a Surly one." It's just a synonym of Grumpy! But she thinks it sounds even better.
However that was before...
... the battle is fierce, but they do overcome. Rikku doesn't say anything for a while as she hands out potions to everyone, eyes more on Lulu and Yuna in the aftermath, on the sending. It's hard to say how she feels about the idea of Lulu being forced to bear that at age thirteen. She could think so many nasty things about Yevon, but right now she's got nothing on her mind but Lulu's grief, and her hope.
Rikku meets Yuna's eyes in the aftermath, trying to put on her best smile. She knows that Yuna is right.
Then, with her scavenger's eye, she spots something. At first she walks forward at an easy gait, but then she jogs forward, kneeling down in a certain spot by a shape covered by the dirt and dust. Brushing it off, she examines it for a time. It's hard to know what's going through her mind. One might imagine she's considering tucking it away, like many things she adds to her collection on a whim every day
Eventually she stands up, and brings it over with both of her palms to Lulu.
"I might be mistaken but..."
Its a slim blue wand, in a shape like a baton. The years have exacted a toll, the blue is no longer quite so vibrant, it has a small leather loop that's partially rotted away, with three beads strung on it. Imagery evoking frost carved along its lengthShe holds it out for her with a reverence one might not have expected from her. It could just be a coincidence, but she doesn't think it is.
"... but I think this is yours now."
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
A few empty shells drop to the ground, and Paine's boot brushes through them as they emit tinkles of smoke. Panting, ears ringing, she walks back towards Lulu and Yuna. The latter passes her, headed the opposite direction, and Paine stops respectfully as she does so, turning a little to watch her. Then, slinging her rifle onto her shoulder, she trudges back to Lulu. Turning around with a soft grind of gravel, she settles into place there firmly, much closer than she had previously today. Their shoulders are almost touching, and Paine's hands are at her sides, but she does not reach for Lulu.
The Sending proceeds. Primal, elegant, eerie. Paine can only imagine the relief Ginnem must feel, after waiting so long. As it starts to conclude, and Ginnem begins to depart, Paine makes the sign of Yevon, solemnly. Such gestures mean something different from moment to moment. At first it's almost reflexive, then respectful. Hold it a little longer and emotion slips through, even if your face is impassive. A little longer than that, and it's gratitude. Paine remains in gratitude for a few seconds, solemnly. Then she stands straight again, hands at her side again. She looks down at Tidus's offered hand, and the wand that Rikku offers, but she makes no remark.
Sad, because of what happened to be Lulu. Thankful, that Lulu lives to grieve it. Here, as long as Lulu chooses to be.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
"I hope so," Lulu says to Yuna when she speaks of Ginnem's pride, and she means it. "...Thank you," she says, and it is for much, much more than her words.
Tidus, too, offers something, and it is not lost on Lulu that he could have become what she was. ...And how terrible that would have been. Could it be, yet?
...No. One way or another...
Well, Lulu accepts Paine's quiet presence, like a cat might; she does not need to reach for her, does not need to actually touch her, to remind her that she is There. That is enough, for the moment. And then Rikku...
"Her wand," Lulu says. "She used this to Send the people of our village. ...And as her focus for magic. I could've used one like this..." But she didn't.
She turns back to Yuna, and there is another quiet moment of gratitude there--of love. Her past...and her present. And what is her future...?
"I'll hold onto these," she says of the weapons. "For now..."
She is appreciative of all of them. But it is not her way to easily say so.
"...The Fayth is ahead," Lulu says."
She doesn't say 'to do what they came here to do'. ...They've already done that.
But Ginnem is not the only one who was left behind here, all those years ago...
"Let's go."